Single Player Loads instead of SA:MP
YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO SEE THE SINGLE PLAYER OPTIONS (NEW GAME, LOAD GAME, ETC) - SA:MP SHOULD LOAD BY ITSELF AND NOT PRESENT THESE OPTIONS. IF YOU SEE "NEW GAME" SINGLE PLAYER HAS LOADED, NOT SAN ANDREAS MULTIPLAYER.
Single player can load for 2 reasons - you have installed SA:MP to the wrong folder or you have the wrong version of San Andreas. If you have the wrong version it's easy to fix. . Click here to download the downgrade patch.
Sometimes the single-player menu will be shown, but SA:MP will have in fact loaded properly. To fix this you simply need to select an item on the menu then press esc until you're out of it, then SA:MP will proceed to load.